The Queen of Shadows - World of Winx rewrite S.1

Chapter 18: Dangerous Waters

Stella stared down into the water, seeing her own reflection shining on the surface.

So it was dark magic behind everything after all, affecting Bloom? That explained everything, including the red glow she had seen in Paris.

All memories flashed in her mind from the second year at Alfea. She had initially thought it would be a calm year, believing that all evil in the magical dimension was gone after defeating the Trix.

Everything started well and happily. However, after a month, the girls noticed a change in Bloom. She had only cared about Avalon, becoming less nice, more selfish, and increasingly angry.

At first, Stella thought it might be something she had done, fearing their friendship was breaking. Desperate to prevent it, she tried talking to Bloom, but she was often not in the mood and actively avoided her.

The day Bloom transformed into Dark Bloom created chaos in all their relationships and friendships. Even though everyone knew she was not herself, it was challenging to forget what she had done. She had hurt them, fought against them, and almost killed them.

Was Bloom about to become her darker self again? Stella couldn't comprehend it. They had defeated Lord Darkar, and when they defeated Valtor, there were no indications that she still harbored any remaining shadow-virus inside her.

Everything turned dark, and Stella felt overwhelmed. This was too much for her to bear. Despite having saved the universe from evil before, the pressure weighed heavily on all of them. The fear of failure lingered within them, each handling it differently.

Aisha's voice interrupted Stella's thoughts, calling after her that the program started in one minute. Stella pushed herself up from her sitting position and joined the rest of the girls, hoping that at least this day could have a happy ending for once.

***

Musa thought she must have heard wrong. And this comes from the person who has one of the best hearing out of all the girls. But at the same time, Bloom seemed to look as shocked as her. Why was Jim trying to save Annabelle? He was evil, right? Just fooling them to then stab them in the back at the end.

Jim let go of her and sighed heavily. Musa rose from the ground, not letting down her guard. What if this was just a game? His emotions and heart told her he was still hiding something, like his music had some distortion behind the calmer melody.

"I-I still don't understand," Bloom said out loud, echoing Musa's thoughts. Their thoughts seemed to be in sync. Musa saw how Bloom's eyes changed between the watch and Jim, who now furrowed his brow as if thinking of something.

"The Queen of Shadows... she's not only after you..."

"...but that doesn't explain why you have been trying to stop us?" Bloom interrupted.

Jim clenched his fists, looking like he was about to strike. Musa channeled her powers into her palms, ready to defend herself and Bloom if he made a move and attacked. But a second later, his fists relaxed. He stopped furrowing and looked genuinely sorry.

"I'm sorry... but I did not know who to trust... since she's also after me since I refused to help her kidnap Annabelle," he said, locking his blue eyes onto Musa's, which made her uncomfortable. Despite being calmer in this conversation, his cold gaze sent shivers down her spine.

"Why did you refuse to kidnap her, then?" Musa asked.

"Because there was something special with her... like something magical."

Bloom rolled her eyes at that, showing she was not buying his words. Jim ignored her and continued.

"But then I got scared that you were some spies for the Queen and tried to kidnap her...when I then realized it was too late."

Bloom's gaze softened.

"So... you're also chased?" she asked hesitantly, approaching him slowly. Jim nodded, his eyes narrowed down on the watch in her hand.

"But with your help, I can save her in the World of Dreams. Follow me and help me," he said, his eyes almost pleading now.

Musa remained skeptical since he still gave her bad vibes. She walked closer to them and scanned Jim's eyes. He cracked into a smile.

"Bloom, I don't kno..." Bloom stopped her, raising her hand in front of her and gesturing her to be quiet. She then agreed with Jim to follow him, but no tricks. And after he helped them save Annabelle and the talents, he had to promise never to show himself on Earth ever again.

Musa thought he would not agree to it, but he still smiled and nodded, making the situation even more strange. She considered calling the rest of the Winx, so they could join, when Jim opened a big portal in front of her, which blinded her.

Jim jumped first through the portal. Bloom was about to go after him when Musa put her hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"What if it's a trap?" she asked.

Bloom slapped away her hand and turned her head and faced her.

"Musa, this is the best for our mission. He seems like a trustworthy person..."

"I'm not sure, though..."

"...just stop overanalyzing the situation with your powers," Bloom snapped, her eyes filled with determination and burning. This took Musa aback, as Bloom usually trusted her powers when they gave her strange vibes about people. However, in this case, Bloom did not seem interested. "Come on, let's go."

Without any further ado, Bloom walked through the portal. Musa sighed, shot a glance over her shoulder, before jumping through the portal.

***

Ace had never been as mad as he was now. He watched Lorelei's stupidity on screen. She was just awful at finding any talents. Did she really think a five-year-old had built that sandcastle? It was too good to be true. The kid seemed to not even know how to use his shovel properly.

Right now, he just wanted to rip something apart. His anger had grown inside him. This incompetent girl was even worse than Bloom, and that was really bad. Why did Lorelei think she was the host of the show and the center of attention? She was so wrong. Ace did not like it. He was supposed to be the host, and no one was allowed to steal that position from him. This only confused his viewers. He had to stop this...

"Uh..." he heard someone in the background stutter.

Ace turned around in annoyance.

"Yes?!"

"The p-program...it starts very soon..."

Ace rolled his eyes. He had never felt like the commercials were too short, before. But right now, he had to take a break to not have a meltdown on screen. And kicking Lorelei on the air was not an option.

"I'm coming..." Ace groaned. He gestured a dismissive hand to his annoying assistant, who instantly left.

Ace dropped into his red couch and sighed, feeling like he should perhaps cancel today's episode. He closed his eyes and listened to his breaths when he heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Mr. Ace."

Ace looked up, seeing a short man with added weight. He had a tan complexion, brown eyes, and medium-length hair in which the ends flared upwards.

This man looked too simple and casual for being a businessman. Ace observed his fashion. He was wearing a Prussian blue beanie, a red-yellow-tan striped elbow-length t-shirt with buttons near the neckline, straight-fit medium-length jeans held in place by a brown belt, red ankle socks, and brown combat boots. Somewhat reminded him of a pirate.

"And who are you?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Someone who has a deal and will help your problems," the man answered with a smile.

Ace approached, now curious. This man was mysterious but at the same time might have a good deal for him, solving his torture watching Lorelei on screen.

"I'm listening," Ace retorted.

The man nodded and leaned against the door frame, picking up something from his pocket. He held a metal thing in his hand, looking like a watch?

"Would you like to have a look?" the man said as he showed the watch in front of Ace.

Ace felt like the world around him was starting to spin. The watch's ticking tore through his mind and put a lot of pressure inside his head. He blinked a few times, trying to fight the feeling of someone whispering in his mind before everything went black.

***

Aisha wondered why Musa had not picked up any of their calls. She was really worried. What if Bloom had gone crazy and attacked her?

No... no, they couldn't know for sure that Dark Bloom was back. It just couldn't. Darkar was defeated, so was his magic.

She wished she could just go and hug Piff, get a comforting hug. The fears of the darkness returning made her sometimes want to run. Run from danger. She started to wonder if they could ever defeat this Queen. She had too much high ground compared to them.

No... she had to be strong. Never give up. They had been in worse situations before and still managed to win.

Her Winx watch flashed. Aisha reacted fast, looking at the screen to see if it was Musa. But as she saw who called, disappointment washed over her. It was Ace. She picked up, trying to hold her emotions in place.

"Hi, Ace. Are we ready to continue the show?" she asked.

Silence.

She was about to repeat her question when she heard him laughing in the background. But his laughter made Aisha get a bad feeling. Like he had gone mad. His laughter was more creepy than normal.

"Oh, Aisha. Sure, I am! Screw the stupid talent for this episode. I wanna see some action," he never stopped laughing. It was almost as if Aisha could hear in his voice how he grinned in satisfaction.

"W-what kind of action?" Aisha asked.

"Ha-ha. Glad you're asking, dear Aisha," he retorted. "You are going to do a test!"

Both Lorelei and Stella groaned. Stella shook her head and looked like she was going to faint.

"Not a test... ugh," she sighed. "I thought I was over with those kinds of things when I graduated."

"Not an actual test from school, you stupid girl," Ace snapped. Aisha got surprised at how quickly his mood changed. Stella looked offended, with her eyes wide open. "I want to see you Winx your talents when it comes to surfing."

"Surfing? Do you really think someone like me would stand on a board and risk myself getting wet?" Lorelei's voice came from nowhere.

Aisha rolled her eyes.

"I'm not sure about that, Ace..." Tecna inquired. "Not all of us are used to surfing sports, and..."

"Enough! I know what's best for the show, and you will listen to your boss," he retorted in a demanding tone.

Tecna was about to comment when they all noticed in the background how the audience chanted 'Test, test, test!'.

"Hmm... this feels like it's only going to cause us trouble," Flora said and fiddled with her pink bracelet around her wrist. She looked worried.

Aisha couldn't agree more. Something fishy was going on, and they had to be careful. All of the girls picked a surfing board from the dock, except for Lorelei. She jumped into a boat, put on her sunglasses, and rested against the backrest.

"The objective of the test is for you to get to the Mako Island, ten kilometers from here!" Ace explained further.

"Oh, is that it?" Stella asked, her eyes brightening up with hope.

Aisha smiled to herself. This was then going to be easy. Surfing is as simple as controlling her water powers while sleeping. Then she would pass this test easily.

"No, of course not, Stella," Ace laughed with a mocking tone. "You have to compete and win against... Sharks!"

Not far away from the dock, five men appeared. All having tan skin covered in black tattoos. All wearing gray shorts and a black t-shirt with short sleeves and a white skull symbol on their stomachs. Some even wore some bandages around their arms and legs.

One of them grinned as they shot a glance towards Stella and then winked towards her. He had like a small, thin stick in his mouth, resembling like he was smoking.

"Hello, there Beauty. Just as you know... we are going to win," he winked again with a cheeky smile.

Stella clearly disgusted glared at him as she crossed her arms.

"First of all... stop flirting with me, I already have a boyfriend," she furrowed and gave him her typical death stare you always know the Princess is not in the mood. And you will definitely not mess with her. "Second of all, no — we, are going to win!"

Aisha had never heard Stella so determined trying to win. There was something in her body language that she took this challenge seriously.

"Get ready then, Beauty, to get crushed," he grinned and blew a kiss in the air before heading to get his own surfing board.

Stella snarled, "Stop calling me that!"

Tecna grabbed her by the arm and pulled her, telling her not to care.

Aisha jumped into the water, feeling its cooling effect. The sun's heat was indeed exhausting at times, and finally, she could cool off and take a quick break. The rest of the girls set up, attaching their gliders to themselves and their waists. The wind instantly made them move forward, observing that their opponents had already started.

'So, they are one of those types and want to play dirty?' Aisha thought. She jumped on her own surfing board and felt the wind in her hair. It was like yesterday when she did this. She had missed surfing on Earth, especially now when she had not been able to use her morphix-surfing board. She glided closer to Roxy.

"Let's show them how to actually surf," she said with a smile.

"Ay ay, captain," Roxy retorted, and both started chuckling.

***

Everything was so dark since the last time they were here. Bloom did not know why, but the feeling made her panic slightly, as if they were embraced by the darkness. She created a flame in her hand, hoping it would provide some light.

Beside her, she could hear Musa humming to herself, probably to break the empty silence. Jim held his hook-shaped knife tight in his hand, scanning the surroundings.

"She knows we are here... we better keep moving," Jim said and started walking, not letting down his guard. Bloom slowly followed him, and Musa hesitated but soon also followed.

They walked in pitch darkness, as if the sun had died out in the galaxy, not giving any light to Earth. It was incredibly difficult to see anything. Bloom found her flame useless against this dark magic. At the same time she felt scared of it, she also found it quite relaxing.

The only thing she could hear was their footsteps touching the hard ground. Sometimes she walked over some small rocks, producing a crunching sound. Musa seemed on edge, looking around and flinching at every sound.

"Can't we just fly?" Musa asked. "I-I don't really like this..."

"Calm down, Musa... it's only us here...hopefully," Bloom retorted, mumbling the last part. Something told her that they were being followed. She could feel dark essence nearby.

Jim halted suddenly in front of them.

"What is it, Jim...?" Bloom stopped as he gestured with his hand to be quiet. Bloom channeled some magic into her hands, ready to attack whoever dared to try and harm them. She clenched her fists, feeling her whole body heat up, her inner flame creeping up from toe to head.

An evil laughter echoing through the dark made everyone flinch, standing now in attacking poses. Bloom swore she got a feeling like someone was running a cold hand down her spine. She heard the voice in her head. Flashes of her darker self popped into her mind, making her hyperventilate in panic. She put both her hands over her head.

'End them all!' the voice whispered.

"No..." Bloom fought against her mind and the voice. She felt tears building up in her eyes and a pain in her chest.

The feeling of how the mind forced her to create a fireball in one of her hands, aiming at Musa who seemed to be distracted by something else.

'End them all...!' the voice repeated.

—

Bloom laughed and smirked, seeing her friends lying on the ground. They were not moving an inch. Burn marks covered their skins, and the smell of smoke filled the air, making it difficult to breathe.

She knelt down beside Musa, about to end her suffering first. Channeling a fireball into her hand, she heard screams coming from behind the big fire barrier. Then also a mix of hearing Lord Darkar's bone-chilling laughter, as they both had won.

It was a good feeling inside Bloom. The success of getting the Ultimate power of Relix. Now she could rule the entire world, by Darkar's side, and no one would ever be able to stop them. Her pathetic friends were no threat anymore once she had ended them one by one.

"Please, Bloom... d-don't do it..." Musa coughed as dark red blood painted the brown bricks.

"Don't worry; it will be over soon," Bloom retorted, enjoying the sight before the real fun began. 

—

Bloom snapped out of her memories, not wanting to let this get repeated again. Her hand that was aiming towards Musa now shifted towards the darkness.

'End them all...'

"No!" Bloom cried out as her voice almost cracked, feeling more tears run down her cheeks. The fireball left her hand and illuminated the dark. A loud scream came a second later, as if she had hit someone and hurt it.

"Bloom, are you okay?!" Musa was now holding a hand on her shoulder, looking worried. Bloom buried her head on Musa's shoulder and sobbed, hearing how Musa was now singing with a calm voice. Like a lullaby.

"I'm..." Bloom sobbed, not finding the words. Why did her memories always remind her of all the pain? The pain she just wanted to erase from existence.

The darkness now faded away, revealing they were standing in a forest with dark cyan crystal trees. Behind the darkness, it revealed shadow creatures. All of them wore wicked smiles on their faces, glowing blue eyes, and sharp nails. Jim took a few steps back and looked terrified as he watched them creep closer.

"Enough hugging, girls... I don't think they'll be so guest-friendly," Jim exclaimed.

Bloom let go of Musa, now seeing tens of shadow creatures darting for them.

"Noise..." Musa cursed and shot out a red sound wave. Two shadow creatures backed off, covering their ears, and retreated into the dark.

Bloom threw a few fireballs at some of them, while Jim sliced them with his knife. But it did not seem to harm them. They only got sliced in half and became even more of them. Bloom hesitated; they couldn't do this without any light powers. Her fire was not enough to beat these creatures.

***

Flora never liked competitions, especially not when the opponents tried cheating. They had attempted to sabotage her lines too many times. If it weren't for her magic, she would have been in the water at this point.

Water sports had never been her thing. On Lynphea, they barely engaged in any sports. The planet's nature was a calm place, where all creatures and living beings could relax without any loud, disturbing noises just because some people wanted to do sports.

The waters were protected, ensuring that the leaf-fishes and different organisms needed the water to be calm.

Flora wondered if the small green organisms got hurt while they were participating in this stupid competition, just because something was off with Ace. It was like he had hit his head on a tree or something.

Aisha seemed to enjoy this. She surfed like she ruled the high tides. Roxy and Tecna were stable ahead after Aisha. And as strange as it was, Stella seemed to be actually trying.

Lorelei, on the other hand, had taken the small boat with an electric motor attached to it. She watched all of them gliding on the water while she looked comfortable where she was, holding a cool drink in her hand, wearing her sunglasses, and enjoying the sun hitting her.

"Hey... can't you perhaps hurry up? It's not good for my natural beauty to overwork this hard, nor being in the sun for too long," Lorelei yelled.

Flora could see how Stella rolled her eyes and shot a glance towards Aisha, who flicked with her hand and made the drink splash in Lorelei's face. She looked paralyzed for a second, with wide eyes open and her mouth open.

"Aisha..." Flora furrowed as she got closer.

"Whoops... my magic must have accidentally done that," Aisha shrugged, clearly lying.

"Come on, Flora. You got to admit that you also find her annoying?" Stella asked.

Flora sighed as she nodded weakly.

"But we cannot use our magic this openly," she retorted, almost whispering.

"No worries," Aisha encouraged. "No one saw tha—"

Suddenly, Aisha was yanked from her surfing board and thrown into the water, as if something or someone had grabbed her by her ankle. She yelped before her head was under the surface. From behind, Flora heard the sound of laughter, like the 'Sharks' they competed with had gone crazy. Something reminded her of Ace's laughter from earlier.

She turned her head and saw their opponents had changed outfits. Their black t-shirts were gone and replaced with broken tank tops revealing some of their big muscles. Their tan skin was now cold and gray, as if all their lively colors and flesh had died, similar to when a plant lost its green color and slowly turned gray — or brown — and then died.

"What happened to them?" Stella asked. "Why are their eyes glowing red, and their teeth look like they haven't brushed them for millennia?"

"This was a trap..." Flora mumbled, figuring they might have something to do with Ace's strange actions today. Why he had suddenly wanted them to go out on the waters, so that they were in a vulnerable position. Water and fairies do not always go well together unless you are a water fairy.

She noticed how the cameras were all dead and floating in the water, as if someone had knocked them down. Tecna and Roxy were both captured by two of the men, with long rope tentacles sprouting from their backs. Each rope ended with a hook. Lorelei's boat had stopped, smoke coming from the engine.

"Should we transform?" Stella whispered, now detaching her glider.

"But we cannot expose our fairy forms to Lorelei..." Flora retorted.

"Tecna can just use a memory spell after we have defeated them..."

Flora furrowed and glared. She saw how Stella gave up her idea and raised her hands in the air.

"Fine..." she sighed. "But she has already seen supernatural 'zombies' or whatever they are called here on Earth? I suggest we..."

"...come on fairy! Fight us!" one of the men interrupted Stella as he pointed at Lorelei, who tried to start the engine by kicking it. She looked up, looking terrified.

"F-fight? Y-you?" her voice trembled as her eyes widened. Flora thought she could now see tears building up in her eyes. "I-I am not even a...fairy..."

The 'zombie' lunged one of his rope tentacles towards her, the sharp hook ready to grab her. With a swift movement, Flora waved her hand, and seaweed from the water grew and grabbed the tentacle right before it reached Lorelei.

"Stella... it's time to shine," Flora nodded, as the seaweeds pulled one of the 'zombies' down into the water from his surfing board.

"Shining is what I'm best at," she winked and shot two sun spells towards the 'zombies' holding Tecna and Roxy. They plunged into the water. Now only two remained. Everyone transformed and got ready for a fight.

Roxy closed her eyes, and around her, a blue aura spread. A second later, a big gray shark carrying Aisha on its back approached them. The shark's eyes glowed blue, and it seemed to communicate with Roxy, who said, "Thank you."

Flora flew closer to Aisha, who coughed and spit out water from her mouth. She helped her to a big rock not far away. Beside the rock, a mysterious broken ship made out of wood appeared. A fog replaced the warm weather, making the atmosphere feel creepy.

"Hey, are you okay?" Flora knelt beside Aisha and used some of her healing magic on a cut, from the hook, on her arm.

Aisha nodded and rubbed her forehead.

"I'm usually a good swimmer. But it was like the water had some dark magic in it and prevented me from using my water spells..." she said as she rose up from the ground. She transformed and conjured small pink morphix orbs in her palms, playing around with them. "I think I'm good to go now, though."

"Okay..." Flora answered as they joined their friends fighting the 'zombies'.

***

Musa hated how these shadow creatures whispered and had distorting voices. They also attacked very aggressively, making it impossible to protect herself from all of their attacks. Her head pounded, her ears hurt, and her arms were tired after blasting too many shadows. Without any light power, they were screwed. Well, if not Bloom pulls some dragon-flame-spell, that would somehow defeat the evil as usual.

But it was like something distracted her in the battle. Her aim was surprisingly very bad for being her. And she sometimes talked to herself.

Musa could bet that she could sense another presence. A miserable soul who is out for revenge for being abandoned by someone they trusted and loved. Its good heart turned dark because of wanting to crush other people's dreams into nightmares, just like this beloved once did to them.

She turned around, hearing a branch break. There in the forest, she saw a tall woman standing with a crown made out of black diamonds and bones. She was wearing a long black dress with cobwebs going across the lower part of the dress. The upper part was covered in ripped fairy wings, almost resembling feathers. This made Musa terrified. Who could be so wicked and cruel to ever rip off wings from fairies? And who in the magical dimension was this woman anyway?

Her eyes now glowed dark blue, just like the shadow creatures. She was chanting in a language Musa couldn't understand. But this made her whole body shiver.

"Musa?" a voice called from behind. A voice that made her heart drop. Someone she had not heard since last year, in the crystal labyrinth.

"Mom?" Musa whispered.

She faced her mother who smiled, just like in the crystal labyrinth, with her proud look on her face. Musa couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her mother... she was actually there, and she could feel her heart singing to her. Musa reached out with her hand to her mother, who grabbed it. Everything became white around her. Like she was in heaven by her mother's side.

"I-I don't..."

Her mother hushed her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you hear that?" she asked.

Musa looked around, hearing nothing. Only seeing white around her...

"No, I— " A sharp pain in her chest made her stop. All the white light faded, and everything became dark. Like shadows surrounded her. She clutched her chest and winced, breathing heavily. Musa could feel something pulling from behind. Like a big part of her was getting ripped away from her. "W-what's happening...?"

She saw her mother crouch in front of her. Her warm smile had now turned into a smirk. Her appearance changed from her mother's to the woman with the black dress. Her grip tightened on the shoulder, feeling like sharp claws digging into her skin. Musa screamed at the multiple pain spreading through her.

"It's soon over, and soon your beautiful wings will join my beautiful collection," the woman said with a cold tone.

Musa cried out in pain and panted, trying to fight the magic that pulled her wings. This must be the Queen who kidnapped the talents. The one they have tried to stop. She couldn't lose now and let the Queen win. She had to save Annabelle and the talents.

She tried to recall a melody from her childhood to regain her strength and boost her powers... but it was like her music slipped out from her head and heart. Like one of her worst nightmares became true.

***

These weird 'zombie-pirates' were tough. With their deadly hooks at the end of their tentacles, it made it very difficult to avoid getting grabbed. They worked well as a team, as if they had been doing this for years.

Aisha shot a morphix net towards one of them. He hit the tree deck on the old ship and tried to struggle free. Flora used some seaweed to tie him down so he couldn't get free. She covered his hooks with seaweed and seashells to prevent him from cutting himself free.

"Let me free!" he demanded and rolled around on the ground. "The Queen will hunt you all down. None of you will be able to flee..."

"Yeah, yeah... we already know that..." Aisha shut his mouth by putting a pink ball there. Typical minions, doing whatever their master tells them. And most of the time, they all said the same with a boring monologue. Getting hunted and being a target by the villains was almost something she has gotten used to. Something sad, in truth. At the same time, she had never dreamed of becoming a ruler and queen — being the hero, and constantly fighting the evil was never something she had imagined. She just wanted to live a normal life... What does even a 'normal' life look like?

"Watch out!" Tecna exclaimed. A big green shield appeared in front of them. Aisha realized now how she had been only staring on the ground and let her guard down. The green shield blocked two hooks that had been lunging towards her.

"Thanks Tec," Aisha said as Tecna landed.

"No worries," she retorted. "According to my calculations, we have a 57 percent chance of winning against these guys."

"That's very low..."

"It's like they are boosted by dark magic, making them stronger and faster," Tecna finished.

Aisha nodded.

"Let's beat those statistics and win then?"

Tecna was about to comment when a scream coming from the right made them both glance over there. It was Lorelei who was now surrounded by sharks. They tackled and bit on the metal hull of the boat. One of the sharks almost got a bite of her weird pink scarf she wore.

"Roxy!" Aisha exclaimed.

Roxy turned around and acted fast. Aisha shot a morphix-shield around her to protect her from getting grabbed. Roxy's eyes glowed as she probably tried to communicate with the sharks. But something was wrong; the sharks did not seem to respond as they kept attacking the boat.

"They... it... it's like they are not actual sharks?" Roxy said.

Suddenly Aisha's morphix-shield dropped, and two hooks grabbed Roxy around her wrists and pulled her down. Aisha screamed her name and dived for her in the water.

Everything was dark. Almost having a green mystical look. Something reminding her when Valtor had attacked Andros and turned her planet into a never-ending storm. As she tried to create a bubble for air, something blocked her powers. 

She saw Roxy's magical blue aura in the dim water. She swam towards her, trying to hold her breath. This was something she wasn't used to. Not being able to use a spell to be able to breathe underwater. Everything became more complicated, having to think of not taking a deep breath.

Roxy extended her hand towards Aisha as they exchanged looks. Aisha grabbed her hand and pulled, forcing her wings to flutter and take her up towards the surface. The light was close, seeing a blurry yellow light coming from the surface. Probably Stella's light. She followed it and kept on going and fighting.

***

Hearing Musa scream in pain snapped Bloom out of her thoughts. Her body boiled, and dark flames crept up around her. She narrowed her eyes at the tall woman standing by Musa, something reminding her of the shadow that had been watching her since she came to Earth, like back at the concert when she first found the sleep dust.

The black flames shot out and hit the woman. Her crown fell off her head and hit the ground. The woman looked up with her glowing eyes. Something told Bloom that this must be the Queen. Her hands, glowing red, created a big swarm of shadows attacking her. Bloom charged with another attack and created a fire explosion, feeling how anger had overtaken her.

"Don't hurt my friend!" she exclaimed as the black flames burned the shadows. Their forms faded away, leaving only ashes of dust on the ground. The Queen's eyes widened as she watched in horror.

Bloom conjured a hot black flame in her hand, feeling its energy of rage pulsing in the air. This was stronger than her usual flames, she could tell. She aimed it toward the Queen, who stood in a battle position.

"W-who are you...?" she heard the Queen mumbling, as she charged energy in her hands, a red fog dancing around her.

'Shoot and end everything...'

Bloom's arm trembled, as if too much energy was being used at the same time, as if this attack was as strong as a raging flame out of control. Her arm was aiming at Musa, who was still on her knees, clutching her head. Every time Bloom switched her target onto the Queen, it switched back to her friend.

'Shoot...'

"NO!" Bloom cried out. Her flame left her palm, aiming it up in the air. A flame storm spread in the air, like a nuclear blast. The flames spread in the forest and burned down some blue trees.

The Queen threw something on the ground, creating a cloud of gray smoke, then disappeared. Bloom covered her mouth, seeing the destruction she had caused. A big blue branch fell from the air toward Musa. Bloom quickly rose her hand to create a shield.

"Dragon's Embrace!" A big golden dragon embraced Musa. The dragon's flaming body burned down the tree, turning it into blue dust falling like small particles in the air, almost like magical powder, fairy dust.

The blood that had run down Musa's back glowed, as did her wings, seeming to get healed. Her first tense body relaxed, and she breathed out. Bloom ran over to her and hugged her friend.

"Are you okay, Musa?!" Bloom asked, helping her friend up. Musa nodded and hugged her once again. Bloom could feel her friend's tears hit her shoulder.

"It was like... my whole soul almost got ripped away from me..." Musa stammered, fear evident in her voice.

"It's okay... the Queen cannot hurt you now," Bloom said, giving Musa a comforting hand on her shoulder. But despite what she said, deeper feelings were lingering inside her.

'You failed... again.'

***

Stella blasted two of the ugly pirates who tried to grab her. Their outfits were even uglier than before.

"Hey, Beauty, you don't wanna hurt me, right?" the zombie pirate said and winked, trying to smile with his ugly old teeth and chapped lips.

"No thanks. How about you take a bath first?" she retorted, feeling very disgusted.

She sent him flying with her blast, and he plunged into the water. Further away, she saw Aisha helping Roxy up from the water.

Lorelei was still annoying. Flora had managed to keep the sharks away by grabbing them by their large fins with seaweed. They had soon given up by attacking her.

A tentacle flew towards Lorelei. She almost dodged but tripped by the edge of the boat. Stella flew fast and caught her. Lorelei had narrowed her eyes on Stella, like she was observing her new fabulous look.

"I could've saved myself there," Lorelei pouted with her mouth and looking disappointed. "I was supposed to be the hero."

"Save the talk for later..." Stella sighed.

She flew towards the ship to put Lorelei down.

"So you really are a fairy?" Lorelei then asked.

Stella rolled her eyes.

"No, you know. We are pixies," she deadpanned, strongly not in the mood to talk to Lorelei. If she had not been on her bright side today, she would have dropped her into the water already.

"Aren't they the same?" Lorelei raised an eyebrow.

Stella groaned. Why did all humans think pixies are the same as fairies? Had their brains been left out in the dark for too long? Not seen the light for ages.

"There you go..." Stella said as she dropped Lorelei. She did not have time to react as she hit the wooden surface, landing on her butt.

Lorelei furrowed and brushed off her clothes from dust. She picked up her phone and turned the camera towards Stella.

"But you know? I'm gonna become a star and famous now that I've met fairies in real life!" she exclaimed, smirked.

Stella's eyes widened. This was what she was afraid of. Lorelei had only caused them problems. And now she was about to reveal to the world that she had seen real fairies.

Stella created a harmless blinding spell, making Lorelei look away in surprise and drop her phone. Stella caught it. The screen flashed a message from Ace who said she was fired. The words made Stella smirk in satisfication.

"Hey, give me that!" Lorelei furrowed and tried to reach her phone. Stella flew higher up and waved with the phone in the air, teasing Lorelei even more.

"What's the matter, Lorelei?" she said. "Am I too far above your level for you to reach the top?"

Lorelei growled and stomped her foot, making the wooden floor shake.

"Once I get my hands on it I'll— "

"— whoops. My finger slipped." Stella dropped her phone into the water. Lorelei's eyes widened, almost burning with fury. "... and by the stars— I mean 'way' — Ace had sent you that you are fired."

Lorelei clenched her fist and was breathing heavily, like she was going to explode.

"Once we meet again, you will not have the same luck!" she exclaimed.

A big explosion made Stella turn around. It was like a cannonball had been shot. It splashed into the water, wetting down all of her friends and knocking them. But before they hit the water's surface, Aisha caught them with a Morphix-net. She then attacked with a big wave towards the zombie pirates who stood on a big rock.

"Let's retreat... the Queen's order. We gotta go to Switzerland for her next plan! The ambush..." the leader of their group exclaimed. A big portal opened in front of them, and they walked through it.

Stella wondered what they meant with their next plan? Was there a new talent in this 'Switzerland'? But she at least knew, whatever their plan was, they had to stop them. And what does he mean with 'an ambush?'

The tied zombie-pirate on the ship tried to struggle against the seaweed and morphix holding him. Stella landed by him and was about to pick him up to take him to the other girls, when she saw how Lorelei now stood by him holding a golden scissor for hair.

"Hey, what are you— "

"— whoops, my finger slipped." She cut the last seaweed holding him.

The zombie pirate broke free and jumped on Stella. He pinned her to the ground, and his glowing eyes locked into hers. His breath smelled like he had not been brushing his teeth for millenniums, which disgusted her even more than his ugly face.

His hooks and tentacles strapped around her wrists, almost squeezing all the blood out of her, and it hurt. She tried to recall her sun powers to attack, but he kneed her in the gut, making her wince in pain.

"You are coming with me," he said.

"Uh, no thanks," Stella said as she put up her brave face, trying to hide the pain that flared through her arms.

She saw how Lorelei stood like paralyzed and watched them. A smirk wore on her face as she almost looked amazed by the scene.

A portal opened beside them. Stella channeled her magic into her hands, creating an orb, hot and blinding as the sun. The pirate let go and groaned; he covered his eyes.

"Okay, that's enough playing around!" Stella exclaimed and blasted him in his stomach. He trembled backward and rubbed his eyes.

"Then I'll take her!" Before Stella had any time to react, a hook lunged towards her, scratching her hand she covered her face with, and the zombie pirate then grabbed Lorelei, as he jumped through the portal with her. She screamed in horror.

"Hey, she doesn't even have a talent... she's just— " Stella stopped as the the pain in her hand pulsed. Blood coming up from the wound. She winced, as she de-transformed. She had wished Lorelei to leave them... but not like this. "Shades..."

"Stella, what in the deepest depths happened...?" Aisha stopped narrowing her eyes on the wound. "...here."

Flora landed beside and looked at the wound. She conjured a bottle with green liquid, looking like medicine they sometimes got at Alfea in the infirmary. Once it came in contact with the wound, the whole hand started to burn. Stella grimaced. Flora then wrapped green leaf bandage around her hand.

"There you go..." Flora smiled, patting her shoulder.

"So what happened?" Tecna asked, scanning the area, watching the broken seaweed laying on the floor.

"Where do I even start...?" Stella sighed heavily.

***

"Damn... it's broken," Jim groaned and slammed his clenched fist into the brick wall. He had tried to open the portal again back to the World of Dreams after they had been thrown out from the world. The crocodile man had not left any mercy for any of them, grabbing them and throwing them through the portal they had tried to escape with.

At the same time that it was bad they couldn't go back to that world, she somehow felt relieved. The World of Dreams was more like a nightmare. Nothing she willingly would like to return to.

The atmosphere here on Earth was much more calm. She listened to the sounds coming from the city's streets—how people walked around, cars driving on the roads, and an overall happy vibe.

"Are you sure it's broken?" Bloom asked, who had been quiet.

Jim nodded in response. He showed them the watch. Musa couldn't hear it ticking, and the pointer was frozen, not moving.

"But... is there any chance we can fix it?" Bloom approached, observing the watch.

"Well... yes... but it will be a long trip. But uhh..." Jim said.

Musa saw how Bloom furrowed, likely thinking of something.

"Go on..." she then said.

"We have to go to Switzerland to the mountains where a watchmaker lives. He's known for repairing any types of watches," Jim explained.

"Then we go there?" Bloom nodded.

Musa's Winx watch flashed. It was a message from Aisha. She wrote that they should meet up in Gardenia. They had some new information and had to come up with a plan.

"Um, Bloom. Aisha just sent me that we should meet them in Gardenia. So if we..."

"... no, we cannot."

Musa raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? It is better if we all go to this 'Switzerland' with the rest of the girls rather than only us three..." Musa got interrupted when Bloom raised her hand. She shook her head and looked serious.

"We don't have time," she retorted.

"She's right..." Jim suddenly interjected. "The Queen might already try to reach him before us."

Something gave Musa a strange feeling inside her. She did not fully trust Jim. Despite him having helped them so far, his emotions were hard to read, which scared Musa. This could mean two things. Either he was hiding something, or he generally is chaotic as a person.

"But Bloom, I think..."

"Musa, just stop it! I said we have no time!" Bloom raised her voice. Musa got taken aback. This was like the third time Bloom had snapped at her. Bloom furrowed, "You can go and meet the Winx and assist them while I'm going with Jim. That's an order."

Musa scoffed, "An order?"

Why had suddenly Bloom become so self-absorbed, thinking she was far above the rest of the girls, the only right person to save the day?

"You cannot just order around like that," Musa said and crossed her arms.

"Of course. I'm a princess... and well, you are far below that level," Bloom retorted.

Musa couldn't believe what she heard. What was wrong with Bloom? She couldn't tell if she was messing with her or being serious.

"The noise thinks you are? You may be a princess and the 'Great Savior of the Magical Dimension,' but that doesn't make the right to treat your friend like that... I mean..." Musa felt slightly hurt at the words. She thought friends would treat them equally, no matter the title. Everything felt so wrong. Bloom was not herself, right?

Not long a while ago, she had just saved her from the Queen ripping her wings off. Prevent her from hurting her by protecting her. What had just happened? Her heart and emotions seemed tense, and something had drastically changed in mood.

"Drop it, Musa," Bloom shook her head, annoyance evident in her eyes.

Musa looked down on the ground and sighed.

"As you want... I'll go."

***

"So it was dark magic?" Aisha asked.

"Yes..." Tecna confirmed.

"No wonder why Ace acted as he did," Flora sighed, fiddling with her bracelet.

The door knocked on the apartment. Aisha rose up from the sofa and opened the door, seeing Musa's face. But she did not have her usual happy smile. She looked very down and emotionally hurt. Aisha also noticed that Bloom was not with her, realizing Bloom might have done something really bad...

"Musa, what happened?" Aisha asked.

"Well... first of all, we've been in the World of Dreams with Jim..." Musa sighed.

Aisha's eyes widened in surprise. She did not expect them to have been in the World of Dreams. Second of all, why had they been with teaming their enemy?

Musa entered the apartment, and the other girls' looks fell on her. All of them now looked worried.

"Hey, Musa, are you alright?" Flora asked.

"It's Bloom and..."

"— what happened?!" Stella rose up from her seat, her eyes wide open, looking about to have a stress attack. "Did she go havoc and hurt you?"

Musa cocked her head.

"Well, that depends on what you mean by 'hurt,'" she retorted.

Tecna forced the Princess to sit down. Aisha put an arm around Musa's shoulder, holding her close. Musa rested her head on Aisha's shoulder and seemed to relax.

"She's just different. She was acting strange. She even went to Switzerland with Jim... and when I tried to talk about it that we all should go together, she snapped and did not really trust me, I guess?" All of the girls exchanged looks. This was what they all had been afraid of—that the dark magic would go too far and affect Bloom once again.

"What about you, girls?" Musa said, clearly trying to change the subject. Her gaze was focused on Stella's bandage.

"A long story... but— " Aisha sighed.

"— wait, did you say 'Switzerland'?" Stella interrupted and rose up again from the sofa, almost knocking over two glasses of water on the table. "We have to go now..."

"What do you mean, Stella?"

"Bloom's in danger..."